Reading "To Build a Fire", by Jack London

So very recently I invested in a condenser microphone setup (thank you Patreon subscribers!). I've been doing YouTube off and on for a number of years now, always hampered by lousy mics: USB, headset mics, all the sub-$50 bad solutions available on the open market. And oh my God, did it show.

A couple of weeks ago I'd finally had enough, bought a proper microphone, and started doing research into how to properly use it. If you've been following my YT very recently, you can listen to the progress in my Rat Detective and Long Dark gameplay runs. But I feel like I've been finally making real progress, from getting the initial recording right to cleaning it up in post using Audacity. I'm a long way from great, but I'm definitely getting less worse.

My favorite survival stories have always been about the cold, which is probably why I was attracted to both FROST and The Long Dark (and why, at one point, I had hacked 7 Days To Die into basically TLD With Zombies). The Antarctic survival stories are the best; if you've never read Endurance by Alfred Lansing, oh my God do it today. There's something unique and powerful about persevering against the uncompromising, brutal, bleak, hostile cold.

But it all starts with Jack London's 1908 short story, "To Build a Fire".

When I started playing TLD again, this story parked itself in my head and just wouldn't leave. And as I continued to improve with the new recording equipment, I just felt more and more compelled to record a reading. I had to get it out of my system.

I hope you like it.

Reading "To Build A Fire" by Jack London (1908), in The Long Dark. (YouTube)